Question

Applicant Testing at the RCMP

Applicants to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police must pass a written examination, an interview, and a physical ability test before being accepted for basic training at the RCMP’s training center in Regina.  As a federally regulated agency, the RCPM falls under the jurisdiction of the Employment Equity Act. Designed to further the employment of women, visible minorities, and other designated groups.  The RCMP has had difficulty meeting recruiting targets of 20% women, 4.5% Aboriginal people, and 8.3% visible minorities that were set in compliance with the objectives of the Act.  A review of testing data showed that Aboriginal peoples and visible minorities scored slightly lower than other groups ion the written tests and that 40-50% of women applicants fail the physical ability test, a rate considerably higher than that for men.

In response to concerns over failing to meet its recruiting objectives, the RCMP undertook a revision of the examination, which assesses cognitive ability.  The new test retains, “academic’ items related to composition and computation, but it also has new items in the form of scenarios that are directed at problem solving.  The new questions are more job directed and operational in nature.  The test items were rewritten to minimize the impact of different regional language styles to ensure that the questions are fair and equitable for all applicants.

With respect to the physical ability test, women had particular difficulty with the upper body strength requirements.  To deal with this problem, the RCMP instituted a six-week training pretraining in fitness program to help women prepare for the fitness test.  It also revised the evaluation procedure.  The following document provides information on the new physical ability requirement and provides information on how to prepare for the test.

Questions:

1. Did the RCMP do the right thing in revising its written examination and fitness test? Did the RCMP reduce the rigour of its entrance requirements?
2. It appears that the RCMP is trying to incorporate a “practical intelligence” component into its examinations. Is this appropriate? What type of “job knowledge” should be assessed of applicants?
3. If physical ability is a job requirement for police officers, is it appropriate to have different standards for male and female applicants to the RCMP? Argue your point.
4. Is the existing test fair and equitable for all candidates? Will the new procedures discriminate against white males?

Answer 1

1. RCMP did the right thing in revising the written examination and fitness. RCMP reduced the rigour of its entrance tests.

2. Yes, it is appropriate because this new aspect of practical intelligence will allow the applicants to test their skills that will be required during their job. The practical knowledge includes questions that are more operational and job directed.

3. It is always appropriate to have different standards for males and female applicants to the RCMP because males and females do not have similar type fo body strength. Furthermore, the female applicants face issues with upper body strength in comparison to males. That is why having different standards is appropriate.

4. The existing tests fair and equitable for all candidates. The new procedures will not discriminate against the white males.

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